Christie names John Inglesino to NJN’s board

Gov. Chris Christie yesterday nominated John P. Inglesino as a board member at the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority, more commonly known as NJN. The post is unpaid and requires the approval of the state Senate; Christie is currently pushing to end state ownership of NJN.

Christie made 18 nominations Thursday, in all.

Inglesino is a longtime friend and political ally of Christie and received a no-bid contract from Christie’s U.S. Attorney’s Office as one of the federal monitors of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. That became a political issue when Inglesino donated to Christie’s campaign. Inglesino wound up stepping away from his more formal role in Christie’s campaign after news broke that state Sen. Joseph Pennacchio had put Inglesino on his legislative payroll, keeping him in the state pension system after he’d lost re-election as a Morris County freeholder.

Inglesino, of Rockaway, would take a seat made vacant by the death of Vincent Girardy.

Among the other nominations is Edward J. Smith of Asbury, chief of staff to state Sen. Michael Doherty, to replace David Degerolamo on the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission. Degerolamo is currently the board’s chairman. Smith lost a 2009 bid for the GOP Assembly nomination in the 23rd District, running on an off-the-line with Doherty in the primary.

Christie also nominated Nick Acocella, publisher of Politifax, a weekly political newsletter that covers New Jersey politics from top to bottom (and baseball historian[1]), to the New Jersey Hall of Fame Advisory Commission, replacing Judith Raines.

Christie also formally nominated seven judges to tenured positions on the state Superior Court — one week after he’d notified the Legislature that nine nominations were coming[2]. These two nominations didn’t arrive Thursday, although each is scheduled for a Senate Judiciary Committee interview on June 3rd: Dennis Carey of Livingston and John Kennedy of Montclair.